So for those who didn't read. There are some questions about the romance in this story:

Q. Is there romance? A. Yes

Q. Is there a harem? A. No.

Anyways enjoy I'm out. This is the first chapter for the week. (it's a bit early but I can't post later so whatevs)

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When Owen arrived at the top of a valley. It was a small valley big enough for a few hundred people to fit in with comfortable room. The plant life was burnt and left charred black. The trees were void of their bark and leaves as the edges of the tree were crumbling. It was like the atmosphere turned into a desert as the humidity was non existent. But as Owen looked in the valley with his Blind Motion technique, he was able to confirm that indeed there were Ferals and Devourers on the mountain. The few dozen black humanoid shapes filled one side of his vision. He could smell the musty dirt stuck to their bodies and could hear the heavy breathing with no rhythm. All of the Ferals were staring towards the other side of the valley.

On the other side was a group of Devourers. They weren’t as numerous as the Ferals, but they were much more organized. As Owen looked at the differing impure colours of Essence flowing through their bodies, he could tell that the majority of them were Low Omega Devourers. However there was one Peak Omega.

“That must be the pack leader. There are so many different types of Devourers it’s a surprise to see them all work together.”

Mainly the Devourers would focus on eating one another to get stronger. But sometimes an odd Devourer would gain from intelligence and use the lower Devourers they defeated to bolster their numbers. As their pack would increase their ability to find more prey. This especially applied when hunting Ferals or Pathwalkers. If the Devourers focused on hunting Pathwalkers, they could have a purer form of Essence and absorb some of the Pathwalkers subconscious along with their Path to become more intelligent. From this Owen could tell that the Devourer leader was one who managed to find an early Pathwalker before being captured by the Keepers.

The reasoning being was that the earliest Pathwalkers that arrived in the Boundaries should be his group. And there would be no way for the other Pole Pathwalkers to arrive on their island yet. As such this was the only possibility.

‘Luckily I didn’t meet this Devourer under different circumstances.”

As Owen barely cracked a smile, he looked at the contour lines of the beast. Owen wasn’t sure what type of beast it was exactly, as he could only make out that it had the build of a similar to the long legged bear that Owen fought. He only knew of that because he had eaten the seen the bear himself when Kovinth bought it for them to eat. The main differences were something that Owen couldn’t see with his low mastery in the Blind Motion technique. The creature had hairs on its body that were thick and overlapped, giving the impression of a single hair. It’s claws were elongated to the point that even one claw was longer than Owen’s whole hand. They were digging straight into the black soil as the Devourer continued to crushed it within its grip.

The snout of the beast was similar to a crocodile but it had no scaly feeling of a lizard. The beast’s hair still covered most of the snout other than the nose. It was a beast that had probably eaten many types of animals to have this type of transformation but the scariest of all was the human like eyes where one could feel they were full of emotions, particularly hatred. Naturally Owen wasn’t able to tell these fine details, but nonetheless he could tell that this leader had already eaten a human to command these Devourers in formation.

Owen looked back and forth, finally resting his closed eyes in the middle of the two groups. There was the reason for Owen coming in the first place. In the middle was a small cinder. This cinder was glowing multiple shades of red through Owen’s vision. Sometimes it was as bright as the sun, and others it was as dark as blood. But nonetheless, Owen could see the sheer amount of Essence pouring out from the cinder. When he looked at it for a brief moment he began to ponder the things that Kovinth had taught him. Only when he managed to come to a certain conclusion did he let out a breath of stale air.

“This… this must be an Awakening Flame.”

As Owen looked on with a slight doubt of his own words. In fact he knew he was right but he still couldn’t believe it. As he was remembered some special advice his master once gave him.

“Owen, there is one important advantage you have other all others on this planet. Other than you and I, we are the only ones who care see the Essence as a colour. Others will only be able to feel it and manipulate their own Essence.”

Owen looked towards his master and gave some serious thought. When he thought about it enough he spoke up.

“But Master why is this an advantage for us?”

Kovinth looked around, trying to hold an air of mysteriousness around him, while Owen used his blindness as an excuse to roll his eyes without him knowing. As holding back long enough, Kovinth couldn’t hold back his own excitement and continued.

“We can see the miraculous objects that are created through a planets rebirth. There might be some differences between these objects but the highest tier are called the Awakenings. They are unique in the entire universe as only the planet during its rebirth phase can create these, and only one of them will be created.”

Owen’s serious expression gave a look of anticipation towards finding these objects and naturally Kovinth, caught it and gave a smug look. He knew his disciple, was diligent in his Path. If Owen was this diligent, it would be impossible for him to want to find these items. Even if he hadn’t even learn what they could do yet, it was enough to be able to find such unique objects. Kovinth continued to explain the importance of an Awakened object.

“You must realize that these Awakened items are the purest for of Essence. They can be used to gain incredible strength, and even grant special abilities. They can also be used to strengthen previous techniques. For example your Solar Eyes, if you ever find a flame based Awakened object, you must do all that you can to seize it.”

Owen only nodded, as it was already quite clear how serious the topic was. There was no need for Owen to show his understanding.

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“Well, it looks like I might have lucked out.”

Owen gave a lit smirk as he watched the fight between the two forces begin.